The Strongest Rowan
Chapter 1: Swimming! Rowanfall padded along under the night sky. She was alone, at least for the moment, while she gazed up at the stars. She could feel the presence of her old mentor, Berryblossom, and her other StarClan friends, Snowcrystal and Palesnow, guiding her. How she missed her old clan, WindClan. She especially missed her love, Heathernose. Even though StarClan didn't want her to love him, and had ordered her to embark on a long journey, she still loved him with all her heart. "Rowanfall!" came a call from above. Rowanfall looked up the see her lopsided-flying friend, Heartface, flapping down to stand beside her. Heartface was a pretty female Barn Owl with a bent and broken left wing that prevented her from flying well. "There's a stream not far in that direction." Heartface reported, pointing to the right of Rowanfall with a talon. "That might be a good place to stop for the day." Rowanfall meowed. Since leaving on her journey, she had been traveling by night and sleeping by day for the convinence of Heartface. "We can head in that direction now." The two walked for maybe half and hour, and Rowanfall knew that morning was coming soon. She would have just enough time to hunt for herself and Heartface, since Heartface couldn't hunt for herself. They soon arrived on the bank of a trickling stream. "Okay, Heartface, you find a place for us to sleep." Rowanfall meowed. "I'll hunt." "Okie dokie, boss!" Heartface hooted cheerfully. She flapped her wings and flew off. rowanfall watched her go before turning and padding beside the stream. As she padded along, she felt the presence of Snowcrystal and Palesnow again. "I wish I coud have stayed." she murmured. "I miss him." No cat answered, but Rowanfall was sure they were angry with her for loving Heathernose. Suddenly the ground beneath her paws disappeared and she plunged down into water. she had been so lost in thought she hadn't noticed a curve in the stream where it got deeper and went right through her path. She flapped her paws helplessly, coughing at the water in her lungs. "Help!" she sputtered. She felt a tug on her scruff and she was dragged out of the stream. "It isn't that deep, silly." came a kind voice. Rowanfall blinked and turned to look at her savior. At first she thought it was Heathernose. The same light green eyes, the same shade of brown, the same small pink nose. Then, as her head cleared, she realized that it was instead a light brown she-cat. "You look lost in your own head." the she-cat meowed, "You okay? You didn't hit your head, did you?" Rowanfall shook her head and started to pad away. "No, you just remind me of someone. Someone...I miss." Chapter 2: A New Friend "Hooooooooooooo." Heartface hooted cheerfully, singing in the night as Rowanfall ate the last of her mouse. It had been one full day since they had stopped here, and Rowanfall had decided to stay for a bit and rest up. She needed more practice hunting, and where else to practice hunting than a place full of prey? "I love the call of an owl." Rowanfall murmured to herself quietly. "My ear slits are burning!" Heartface hooted teasingly from her perch up in the tree. "So you like my singing?" "Oh, shush." Rowanfall tossed a small bone from her mouse at the owl, playfully, and Heartface just flapped her wings to lift a few inches into the air as it whizzed past her. "Hey!" came a call from behind Rowanfall. She flipped around to see the Heathernose-look-alike she-cat. "You're the cat that almost drown in a tail-length of water." "What are you doing here?" Rowanfall asked politely, "And in the middle of the night?" "I like to go for walks in the night, it's peaceful." the brown she-cat smiled, "My name's Heather, and your's?" Rowanfall nearly collapsed. "H-h-heather?" she said quietly, swaying on the spot. Heather frowned. "Is there somehting wrong?" she asked. "Oh, I see." Heartface piped up. She flew unevenly over to then and landed on the ground beside Rowanfall. She placed her intact wing around the swaying she-cat to steady her. "She reminds you of him, doesn't she?" Heather's fur stood straight up and she jumped back. She let out a yowl of surprise and gasped, "A talking owl?" "No need to be alramed." Rowanfall said quickly. "She's my friend, Heartface. Don't bother asking, I have no idea myself." she added. Heather stared for a moment, then blinked away the surprise in her eyes. "What are you an your....owl doing out here anyway?" she asked politely. "It's quite a long story." Rowanfall meowed. Chapter 3: A Sad Story "That sure is an interesting story." Heather meowed kindly after Rowanfall finished explaining. "Well, what are you doing out here?" Rowanfall asked. "That's quite a long story, too." Heather sighed. Rowanfall nodded for the loner to explain. "Well, when I was just a kit, I was a Kittypet with my mother, father, and brothers. I was the only She-cat in the litter. My mother was Flower and my father was Jacob. I had three brothers, Teddy, Tuft and Panda. "Then, the Twoleg kits came. Mom called it 'The Parting'. You see, The Parting is when other Twolegs came and took us away from our parents and littermates so we can be their Kittypets." Heather's voice had lost its cheery tone. "Well, Mom and Dad had had more kits, other than my litter. Three other litters, she told me. The other Twolegs had come and taken them all. "After we heard this, my brothers and I planned an escape. We were going to wait until the sun was going down and all the other Twolegs had left, then we were going to run out the door when our Twoleg went outside. He went outside everyday at the same time, when we looked out the window, he just stood in the yard. He always seemed to have a white stick with fire at the end. he always smelled foul when he came in. "Anyway, it was working. We ran outside, all four of us. Then the Twoleg caught up to us. He grabbed Teddy, but Tuft, Panda and I got away. "After escaping, we got attacked by a dog. Panda was hurt badly and Tuft..." Heather went silent for a moment. "Tuft is as good as dead. He was still alive when I last saw him, but the dog carried him away. I...I tried to save him." Tears poured off of the loner's face, but she ignored Rowanfall trying to comfort her and continued speaking, voice shaking. "P-panda and I got away safely and we've wandered all over since. I met a tom, his name was Snow. He became my mate for awhile, but he...he was attacked by a badger when Panda and I were out hunting." Rowanfall pressed her fur up against Heather's. The loner had stopped talking, just wept quietly while Rowanfall tried to comfort her. After awhile, Heather composed herself and stood. She turned away and started to pad towards the stream. "I'd better get back to my den." she meowed. "Are you going to be okay?" Rowanfall asked, concerned. "I'll be fine." Heather called over her shoulder, then she leaped over the stream to the other side, out of sight. "That story was so sad." Heartface commented, voice low. "I wonder how long ago her mate died. It must have been horrible." "It couldn't have been that long." Rowanfall meowed, "She's expecting kits." Chapter 4:The Den by the Stream "What?" Heartface blinked in surprise, "How could you tell? I didn't think she looked like she was going to have kits..." Rowanfall just turned around and started padding back to her den. The sun was starting to rise, and she wanted to sleep. they had been up for so long. "I'm a Medicine Cat, Heartface. I was the first one to notice Larkfeather- one of my friends from WindClan- was carrying kits." Suddenly Rowanfall stopped as she remembered Larkfeather. She wondered if her old friend had kitted yet. she hoped she and her kits were alright. Acornheart would be there to help his sister, she was sure that she would be okay. The brown she-cat shook her head to clear it and slipped into her temporary den. "Let's get some shut-eye." she meowed back to Heartface. "We need to move on in the morning." Heather raced alongside the stream until she found a pile of brush. It blocked the stream and only a few jets of water got through. Above, the sun had started shining and warmed her fur. But it was ignored, as she was feeling too terrible for something as simple as the sun to make her cheery. "Heather!" a voice called. Heather watched a soggy white and black ball of fur wiggle out from the makeshift dam and onto the shore. "I'm back, Panda." Heather assured him. She padded over to the very edge of the bank, then leaped down into the dry side of the stream. It wasn;t actually dry- there was still mud everywhere and the water from the holes in the dam flowed through slowly. Panda leaped down into the stream after his sister. "You said you would be back before moonhigh! I was so worried!" "I met that brown she-cat again. The one with the heart on her haunch." Heather xplained, "Her name is Rowanfall, and she came from the clans." Panda nodded, then licked some of the mud from his sister's face. "Let's get you into the den, you'll catch a cold." Rolling her eyes, Heather leaped through the mud to the foot of the dam. She slid out her claws and pulled herself about halfway up. She found a small hole that was block on the other side so no water came in. She slid through, navigating her way through the brush until she reached a small cavern. It was underground and the only way in was through the stream, but before the water ahd blocked it. So Heather and Panda had built the dam over the hole so it would serve the purpose of not flooding the den and hiding it from unwanted guests. Panda followed her into the den and grabbed a mouse. It was prey from yesterday, but was still good. "Since you didn't come back with any prey." he meowed, dropping the mouse in front of Heather, "We can share this." Heather looked up nervously at the brush. That pile of leaves and branches was the only thing to keep them from drowning. "I don't want to stay here long." "Where else will we go?" Panda asked. "We're not going to be able to see eachother if we go back to being kittypets." "I want to join Rowanfall's journey." Heather meowed, cleaning the mud from her pelt. Chapter 5: Moving Ahead The next morning, Heartface and Rowanfall ran along the shore. More accurately, Heartface was flying and Rowanfall was running. A race was the perfect thing to raise their spirits. Up ahead, a forest loomed. It seemed creepy, unforgiving. Rowanfall stopped dead at the edge of the trees and Heartface landed on a low branch. "This place doesn't seem safe." Rowanfall meowed, pointing out the obvious. It didn't look safe, there was no sound coming from inside except the creaking of branches. The trees were tightly-packed, blocking out sunlight. Only a few tail-lengths in and you couldn't see your own paw in front of your face. There was a line of oak trees around the brim, but the inside was full of nothing but pines. "I'll see how far it goes." Heartface hooted. She flapped her wings and flew to tree tops. there was silence for a moment before the Barn Owl flew back down and landed next to her cat companion. "I couldn't see anything but trees- this thing goes for miles and miles." "Then we'll have to go around it." Rowanfall meowed. "Nope," Heartface said, blocking Rowanfall's path with her wing, "It goes on for miles in every direction. We might not make it to wherever you need to be until we're elders." "Hey!" Rowanfall and Heartface jumped. They turned around to see a familair face. "Hey!" Heather repeated, "Wait up!" Heather wasn't the only one there, there was a white and black tom with her. When they caught up, Rowanfall asked, "Who's this?" "This is my brother, Panda." Heather panted, catching her breath. "We want to join you on your journey." "You what?" Rowanfall blinked with surprise. "Don't worry, we'll be able to take care of ourselves, you won't have to hunt for us." Heather insisted, "And Panda and I can guide you through the Pine Claw Forest." "Pine.. Claw?" Rowanfall asked. "It's the name of this forest, and it's very dangerous." Heather explained, flicking her tail towards the trees. "And if you were thinkin gof going around, no luck. There are more dangers outside the forest- a Twolegplace runs along the edge, and a rogue group will kill any strangers." Panda finally spoke up. "Heather, if they're going to go through the Pine Claw Forest, maybe we shouldn't go. I don't want you hurt." "I can take care of myself." Heather meowed, flicking her overprotective brother on the ear with a paw. She raced towards the forest's edge and meowed, "come on!" before slipping through and into the darkness. Chapter 6: The Pine Claw Forest It was just as eerie as it had seemed from the outside. No sound was heard except the creaking of branches. No one could see more than a mouse-length ahead of their face. It took all of their courage not to run. Rowanfall flinched as she thought she heard pawsteps in the distance. She felt like everything was waiting, waiting for her to let her guard down. They were watching her, waiting to leap down and eat her for prey. Waiting... "Calm down." Heartface's voice told her from the darkness. "I don't hear anything." "What does that matter?" Rowanfall spat, temper peeked by her nervousness and fear. "I'm a Barn Owl- I could hear the heartbeat of a mouse on the other side of the forest!" the owl hooted. Rowanfall sighed and continued walking. All was silent. Until... "I hear something." Heartface hooted, titling her head. Rowanfall looked in the direction of the owl, but only saw a faint outline. "It sounds like loud pawsteps, running." Heartface hooted. Up ahead, Heather's pawsteps stopped, and behind them, Panda came to a dead stop. "I hear it, too." Heather meowed. So did everyone else. It was coming closer, and they had no idea what it was. Chapter 7: Monster in the Shadows Rowanfall couldn't move. She was frozen with fear. She didn't want to run, she couldn't run. Suddenly, the pawsteps were a tail-length from her nose. Shivering with fear, Rowanfall looked up. She found herself staring into huge, red eyes. She bolted. She no longer cared if Heartface, Panda or Heather followed her, she just wanted to put as much distance in between her and this strange creature. She wished she knew how to fight. She had had a bit of training from when Fallowstretch had been her mentor, but other than that, she was more useless in battle than a mouse. And she had a feeling this creature chasing her was at least three times bigger than her. Even the great Blazestar couldn't beat this thing without at least two other warriors by his side. As she ran for her life, Rowanfall's mind drifted to WindClan. She realized something- she didn't care about clans. She didn't care about the Warrior Code nor the Medicine Cat Code. She was doing all of this, risking her life, because she cared about the lives and wellbeing of the other cats. She was doing all this so her clan would not be hurt- not for the sake of the clan, but for the sake of the cats that made up that clan. Especially Heathernose. She, once more, felt a pang of grief and emotion as she remembered Heathernose. She wished that the dark tabby tom was by her side again. "Heathernose!" she cried, as if simply calling him would make him appear by her side. Suddenly, she found herself rolling into a bush, seized by sharp claws. Her face was suddenly covered by fluffy fur and, if she had been able to see before, her vision would be blocked. But Rowanfall was confused. The pawsteps from the creature was dying in the distance, so it meant that this was a different creature that had her pinned down in the bush. "Are you okay?" Chapter 8: The Loner of the Pine Claw Forest "Who are you?" Rowanfall asked. she struggled free of the bush she had been dragged into and faced the outline of a cat in the darkness. "My name is Leaf, I am a loner of this forest and one of the few who still live here." the she-cat introduced herself. "That creature chasing you was a dog, Blood. She hunts this forest with her twolegs, it's dangerous to be in here." "Then why are you here?" Rowanfall asked. "I know this forest well, like the spots on my fur. I've found ways to live here safely." The branches of the bush shifted as Leaf jumped out. Her outline moved in the darkness. "I've already saved your friends, I brought them back to my den. They told me there was another with them, so I came to find you." Rowanfall suddenly felt fluffy fur brush up against her. "I'll lead you to my den." Rowanfall quickly shut her eyes at the bright light. Leaf had led her into what appeared to be a rotten, old tree stump with a hole at the base. She would have looked around, but found that the moment she entered, she was blinded with light. "Sorry, i should have told you it was bright in here." Leaf apoligized. Rowanfall didn't care. Before her eyes had grown accustomed to the shining, she felt feathers against her fur and heard a happy hoot. "Oh, Rowanfall!" Heartface hooted, "We thought the dog had gotten you!" The brown she-cat cracked her eyes open to see a spacious den. There were four cats in the den, including here. there was Panda and Heather, each having just stood up to come and greet her, there was her, then there was a beautiful white and brown she-cat. Rowanfall supposed this was Leaf. "It's a bit strange to have an owl in my den." Leaf meowed, "But I've seen stranger. I've heard of owls being able to speak with cats, but only in far off places, far beyond the mountains." "You've lived here awhile, haven't you?" Rowanfall asked, settling into a nest, exausted. There were several nests around the den, it appeared as if Leaf was used to guests. "Yes, yes I have." Leaf meowed, "It's quite a long story how I came to live here." Chapter 9: The Tale of Leaf "I used to have a sister, Bloom. We were kitted in a happy household, there were three twolegs- two adults and one kit. Bloom was always the kit's favorite, but that was okay, I didn't like being played with and petted all the time." Leaf said, starting the story, "My mother took care of us, and our father was a stray that lived in the shed. "We went outside often and Bloom and I used to catch used to catch butterflies. Other Twolegs would come by and pet us, give us love and attention. "Then, one day, two bad things happened. First, the Twolegs we lived with found out about daddy. They chased him away, and threw things at him. We never saw him again, after that. "Second, Twolegs came. They had never come inside before, but now they were coming in and trying to take us away. They wanted to seperate us and take us away from mommy, but we wouldn't let them." "The Parting." Heather interupted. "The what?" Leaf asked. "The Parting." Heather repeated, "When Panda and I were kits, our mom called it 'The Parting'." Leaf nodded. "Okay..." Then she continued the story, "We hid everyday, until out Twolegs got smart. They made us come out, then put us in a box so we couldn't run away. That was late a night, so we would sleep in there then the other Twolegs would take us away in the morning. "But our mom wouldn't let that happen. In the middle of the night, she took Bloom and I away. We got pretty far until Mom tripped. She accidentally dropped Bloom- I was running and she was holding Bloom by the scruff- and they both hurt their paws. I helped them to their paws and we made for the nearest forest- the Pine Claw Forest where we are now. We were almost there when Catchers came." "What are 'The Catchers'?" Rowanfall asked. Heartface sat beside her, feathers puffed so she was as round as an egg. This usually meant that she was sleepy, but she would stay awake to listen. "They take stray cats away, my father told me about them." Leaf explained. "Anyway, so, the Catchers ran after us. They got close, and I was forced to run ahead. They got mom and Bloom, and I was alone. I bolted for the Pine Claw Forest, and I've been here ever since." "I have a question unrelated to the story." Panda stated, somewhat randomly. He pointed with a paw at a blue, tube-like thing that seemed to be the source of light. "What is this? It look Twoleg-made." "That's because it is." Leaf padded over to it and placed a paw on something that looked like a switch. "It's called a Flashlight. I stole it from the Twolegs, it shines light in den for awhile, but then the light dies and I have to steal a new one." "That's really cool, I guess Twolegs do have some uses." Rowanfall meowed, placing a paw in front of the light. A paw-shaped shadow appeared on the far wall of the den. She purred with laughter as she moved her paw around, moving the shadow on the wall. Then she sat down and looked up at Leaf. "I suppose you miss them, don't you?" she asked. Leaf nodded silently. "Of course you would." Rowanfall looked down at her paws. She missed Heathernose... Chapter 10: Badger! They all stayed in Leaf's den for two more days before Rowanfall decided they had to move on. "We must keep going, we can't hide here forever." she meowed. "I should at least help you out of the forest, we're not far now." Leaf insisted. Rowanfall didn't refuse the help- they needed it. "We will appreciate the help, Leaf. Thank you." "Let's hope we don't run into anything nasty." Panda meowed. As Rowanfall would later think, he should have knocked on wood. "We're almost out of the forest!" Heather called from up ahead. Rowanfall purred, happy to see sunlight shining through the trees up ahead. They were almost free of this dark forest! Heather and Leaf traveled ahead, chatting happily, Rowanfall and Heartface walked a bit farther behind, and Panda trailed at the back of the group. Every once in awhile, Rowanfall could swaer she saw Panda glance at Leaf and open his mouth as if to say something, but he always looked away and closed his mouth. Suddenly, Rowanfall's ears pricked. She had heard a rustle. "What was that?" she asked Heartface. The Barn owl, having superior hearing, tilted her head around; looking for the noise. When she found it, she pointed with a talon to the right of their path. "Badger, heading this way." she hooted. "Badger?!" all the cats in the group asked in a panicked voice. They all turned towards Leaf for guidance. "It must be Deathbringer, we have to find somewhere to hide." Leaf's eyes were wide with panic as she wildly searched for shelter among the the short bushes. "We're almost to the edge of the forest, let's make a run for it!" Heather shouted. Before anyone could respond, the brown she-cat ran off in the direction of the light. The others exchanged a glance before following. They didn't get far before a large badger leaped out of the small undergrowth and chased after them. Chapter 11: Moving Ahead Rowanfall ran for her life as the light got closer and closer. She heard the punding of the badger's paws behind her, but she ignored it. She had to ignore everything; she had to completely focus on running and the light. Closer... closer... Up ahead, Heather, Leaf, and Panda broke out of the forest cover. Suddenly, pain flared up Rowanfall's back. She fell to the ground, blood spilling across the path. Above, the badger loomed over her. He grinned and raised his claws to take out his first piece of prey for the day... Rowanfall's life flashed before her. Being a small kit, mistreated by Mistfrost. Being a warrior apprentice, then a medicine cat apprentice. Berryblossom's death and her medicine cat ceremony. Then Heathernose... her love. She missed him so much. He was most of the reason she had done all this. She was doing it not for her clan, but for her clanmates. If the clan was safe, they were happy, and she cared for all of them. Especially Heathernose. She glared up at the badger, no hope of escape. then she felt something unexpected. A flicker of anger. How dare this badger come and kill her? She had been through so much, all this trouble to save her clanmates, and he just came allong and ruined it all! He didn't have the right to destroy all she had done! Rowanfall suddenly bolted upright and scratched the badger's back hard. "You don't deserve to kill me!" she shouted. "You don't have the right to ruin all I have done!" The badger, clearly surprised, stepped back a back. However, he quickly gathered himself and struck back, slashing Rowanfall's face. But the she-cat held strong, ignoring the pain. "Go!" she shouted, attacking him again. She slashed him repeatedly on the back, leaving large gashes that would become scars. "Leave me and my friends alone, because you don't deserve to kill any of us! We've all been through so much, and you don't have the right to make it all obsolete!" Suddenly, Rowanfall felt talons in her back. Looking up, she saw Heartface's familair feathers as she carried her away. The owl struggled to stay int he air, but only landed once they were out of the forest. As they slowly dropped onto the ground, Rowanfall looked concernedly at Heartface. The owl looked exausted from the struggle of carrying a passenger, but other than that, she looked perfectly fine. "Rowanfall, are you okay?" Heather asked. Rowanfall licked her wounds. Being a medicine cat, she knew they were bad wounds, but she wouldn't stop traveling for another they. They had wasted enough time back at Leaf's den. "I'll be fine. We should just get moving along." She started padding off through some plains that happened to be very close to a Twolegplace. Chapter 12: Tuft and Bloom "I personally think you should go through the Twolegplace." Leaf said, padding alongside Rowanfall and Heather. they were making their way across the plains, Panda behind, Heartface flying above for a bird's-eye-view, and the rest talking happily. Leaf had decided to accompany them for awhile because it wouldn't be safe to return to the Pine Claw Forest until Deathbringer went back to his home. "Deathbringer lives on the other side of the Pine Claw Forest." Leaf had explained, "He only comes to these plains every once in awhile, and when he does, he kills all the prey he can. I always try to leave the forest for a few days until he returns home." Rowanfall glanced at the Twolegplace in the distance. "Why?" she asked. "Twolegs are dangerous." Leaf looked away, as if not to look Rowanfall in the eyes. "Well, I've heard of a great place that lies beyond the Twoleg town. It's foggy but it's always warm, it has pools of water, and there's supposed to be herbs growing everywhere." "Sounds like a dream world." Heather meowed happily. "Sounds like a rumor started by a bored Kittypet." Rowanfall muttered. then she spoke up. "It's as good a place as any to start exploring. Even if it isn't real, it can't hurt to at least check it out." Where do you want me to go, StarClan? she wondered. It appeared as if she had no real destination. Where was she supposed to go? The four cats and one owl soon reached the Twolegplace. "How should we make our way through here?" Heartface asked. "I think we should travel by night." Leaf suggested, glancing at the sky where the sun was about to set. "Let's spend the rest of the day over here." Rowanfall meowed, padding over to a large, pretty bush. It had perfectly rounded leaves and little purple flowers growing on it. She manuvered her way through the branches and sat there. The others joined her, hiding in the bush. They sat for there for what seemed like hours, just talking quietly. But suddenly, Leaf and Heather both stared over Rowanfall's head, out of the bush. Carefully turning around, Rowanfall saw what they were staring at. There were two kittypets sitting next to each other in the yard. One a white and brown she-cat who looked a lot like Leaf, the other being a white and brown tom with tufty ears. Before Rowanfall could ask anything, both Leaf and Heather hopped out of the bush and raced towards the kittypets. "Tuft!" Heather gasped. "Bloom!" Leaf gasped. Chapter 13: A Strong- no, The Strongest Rowan Rowan stared as Heather and Leaf raced over to their siblings. She stood carefully and picked her way out of the bush, followed by Panda and Heartface. "Leaf?" Bloom asked in amazement. "Heather? Panda?" Tuft smiled immediately. "What happened?" Heather asked, "How did you get here, Tuft?" "How did you guys get here is a better question." Tuft meowed. "What happened after you were taken by the dog?" Panda asked. Tuft turned to expose his side. running down it was a long scar. "he ran off with me i his mouth. I thurt a lot, but eventually his twoleg found him and made him spit me out. The twoleg healed me then brought me back to his house." "We've been traveling for so long, it's such a long story." Heather meowed. She sat down and started talking with Tuft, but Rowanfall had stopped listening. "Rowanfall, is something wrong?" Leaf asked. Instead of talking with her sister, Leaf had been content to just sit with Bloom. "No, nothing." Rowanfall meowed. She turned around and slipped through the fence of the twoleg's yard and out onto the street. "Rowan, what are you doing?" Leaf called, "Don't go off by yourself!" Rowanfall ignored her and continued walking. After a few minutes, she heard a familair uneven flapping. "Rowan, I know something's wrong." Heartface hooted from above. "Where are you going?" "Back to WindClan." Rowanfall meowed sadly. Heartface quickly flapped her wings and landed directly in front of Rowanfall, stopping her. "What? Why?" "I don't want to do this anymore." Rowanfall hung her head. "I can't do this anymore. Leaf, Heather, and Panda are all going to stay with Tuft and Bloom now. They all have someone with them, firends and siblings. But I left all of my friends behind. My mate, my mother, my father, everyone. I left them all behind for this fruitless mission." Heartface used her crumpled wing to nudge Rowanfall's head back up. "What are you talking about? You said it before, you're doing this for your friends and family. And you're not alone. You still have us. Leaf, Heather, Panda, and me." "It doesn't matter. Why do I bother dragging you guys along when we have no goal?" Heartface turned Rowanfall around, back towards the yard where they had left the others. "You do have a goal, Rowan. You have to find out what StarClan sent you out here for. You have to figure out how to save your clan." Rowanfall nodded. "I guess you're right." she meowed. "You know what, Rowan?" Heartface hooted as they walked back to the yard where they had found Bloom and Tuft. "Your name suggests that you are weak." "How so?" "Well, a rowan is a type of tree. Rowan-fall would suggest that the tree is falling, saying it is weak. But you aren't weak, Rowanfall. You don't fall. You stay standing strong, you are a strong- no, the strongest rowan. If you try, you can withstand anything." Rowanfall nodded. Epilogue "How much longer do we have to keep this up?" Snowcrystal asked. "Until she's too far away to return to the clans." a large brown tabby tom meowed. "I don't approve of this plan." Berryblossom meowed, watching Rowanfall and Heartface below. "What kind of guardians are we if we do this?" "We can't have her in the clans." the brown tabby meowed simply. "She's a danger." Berryblossom, the brown tom, Snowcrystal, and Palesnow were sitting in a small group in StarClan. "This is too cruel." the past medicine cat meowed. "It's StarClan's job to watch over the clans and protect them." the brown tom meowed. Berryblossom sighed as she watched her old apprentice and Heartface talk. "I see there's no reasoning with you, Treestripe." Snowcrystal, Palesnow, and Treestripewalked away, leaving Berryblossom alone with her thoughts. Rowanfall didn't deserve this. There had to be something she could do. She caught a few words from what Heartface was saying below, "But you aren't weak, Rowanfall. You don't fall." Berryblossom sighed. "But all trees fall eventually." The End Category:Fanfiction Category:Rowanfall's Fanfiction